Kuching - the Cat City

I had originally planned to try to make a day trip over to the scenic Bako National Park from Kuching the following day, but I realized that a few days in a row hiking through the thick, humid rainforests of Borneo might be a little more effort than I wanted, hoping to just spend a quiet day or two in Kuching before finishing up the Malaysian portion of my trip and heading back to Singapore. So after the chaos in my room the night before, I just decided to sleep in a bit and then spent the day walking around the city. Kuching is a very multi-ethnic city (in Malaysian terms) with a fairly even split between Chinese, Malaysian, and some other indigenous Bornean groups. With this being the case, I found a few small streets in the Chinese areas with simple shops selling all sorts of packaged foods, household goods and any other random piece of cheap equipment that you could need, all crammed into these open-fronted stores, packed wall to wall with a few narrow walking lanes to survey the collection unique to each store, though there's typically a fairly similar base of items. I particularly like the peanut-brittle type candy that they have, buying a huge bag of the stuff which is basically a peanut and sesame mix, held together with probably some sort of sugary syrup and then possibly baked to make it just a little bit crunchy. I had discovered the stuff in Malaysia earlier in the trip and had since forgot about it, as they don't have it much in Indonesia. So I picked up a big pack to carry along with me under my arm, reaching for piece after piece while walking down the pleasant, tree-lined, open streets of the East side of the city, realizing that I have little to no self control when it comes to food, especially sweet food/candy, though that was really no surprise to me, so my large bag was soon empty, and I was really thirsty thanks to all of the salt and nuts.

Walking around the area, I found the symbol of Kuching, a huge white plaster cat with blue eyes and one outstretched paw, in the fashion of the lucky cat figurines sold all over China and Japan. Behind the 10 foot tall cat stands a nice, ornate Chinese gateway opening up over one of the roads heading into the city, giving guests a warm feline welcome to the Cat City. Not far from there, another roundabout stands with a few smaller cats around a pillar, greeting each entrant into the roundabout. Then, just another few minutes from that point, the second most famous monument features a pedestal with six or eight large cat statues playing with each other, overlooking the main road that lines the river. On top of the statues, the numerous tourist shops lining the boardwalk feature any and all variations of cat figures, shirts, kitchen accessories and any other thing onto which you can plaster a cat. Ironically, none of the statues or souvenirs had the kinked/broken/stunted tail that almost every cat in Malaysia and Indonesia seem to have, looking as though they either had part of the tail chopped off or folded in half over itself, but I guess that's a genetic thing.

As I walked the streets, I stumbled across a few more historical buildings and the appropriately stately State Mosque, standing tall at the edge of the city, though this city is not exclusively Muslim, so there was also a nearby Sikh Temple with a few golden domes of its own, along with a few small Chinese Buddhist temples with the traditional stone lions standing guard at the gates. Wandering through town, I began looking for food, and, with Ramadan in full force, this was again not an easy task, though I eventually stumbled on a tiny shop with a few sheets covering the front entrance (to not offend those who do not eat during the daytime) and found some cheap roti canai, though it didn't tide me over for long. Moving down towards the boardwalk, I found the potential for many riverside cafes, though none of them were open during the day, taunting me with their menus and pictures posted on the small huts that serve as the restaurants with a few tables along the sidewalk. I eventually held out until sundown, contemplating getting one of the slightly more expensive Ramadan buffets offered as a hearty way to break the fast during the day, though I almost couldn't resist the sights and smells of the buffet at the Hilton hotel. The various skewers, chili and peanut sauces, numerous noodle dishes, fresh fruits and many other mouth-watering dishes enticed me to pass by the outdoor buffet three or four times, seriously contemplating a massive, wonderful feast, though I couldn't justify the price in the end. In a place where I can eat a tasty plate of noodles for about $2, I couldn't justify spending $25-30 on the buffet, though it was a tough decision. I finally settled for one of the small noodle houses along the river, getting a Thai inspired basil noodle dish that was decent and cheap, but it certainly wasn't as spectacular as the buffet would have been (or at least how I imagined it in my mind).

My other mission for the day was to get a haircut while in Malaysia, as I like trying to get haircuts in other countries, mostly because it's almost always way cheaper than in the US. This turned out to be a fairly easy task, especially given that so many Malaysians speak English, so I found a simple barber shop in the Chinese district, and after comparing a few prices, I sat down for a simple, uneventful $4 haircut and wash, preparing as much as I could for getting to Singapore, South Korea and Japan where things would be significantly more expensive. My next night at the cheap, cramped hostel was much better, which just a bit of British snoring to deal with, much simpler than the drunken college-style mess from the night before.

(One of the buildings across the river in downtown Kuching. The boardwalk is lined with a few nice street cafes overlooking the river, only opening after the sun went down...that Ramadan thing again. Also, the Hilton had an amazing buffet that smelled and looked incredible, and I was really, really close to splurging on the dinner, though I couldn't justify paying literally seven times what I was paying for my cheap hostel room for just one dinner. $3.50 vs $25 for those that were wondering.)

(The Istana Palace sits across the river further down, shining back across to the South side of the river and the center of town.)

(Kuching means cat in Malaysian, so the city features various statues of cats greeting visitors.)

(More cats facing all directions near a roundabout on the East side of town.)

(I found a nice, less-touristed area between a few of the cat statues, featuring tree-lined streets and some Chinese restaurants and shops. I also got a cheap haircut down this road, as I like to try my luck with haircuts in the countries I visit, especially since it's almost always cheaper than back home.)

(Though it's a Muslim country, there are still some pockets of strong Buddhism and Christianity. I'll let you guess which one this is.)

(The gates to a little Chinatown in Kuching, near a chaotic pedestrian shopping street and the State Mosque.)

(The State Mosque standing at the edge of downtown. I have no idea what those things in the grass are.)

(I believe this was a police precinct or something. I just liked all the pretty colors. I also love the Sarawak state flag, which you can see with the yellow, red and black. It's the one that's not a rip-off of a certain flag from my home country.)

(Another temple and its guardian dragon/dog thing.)

(This cat is the largest and most popular one, standing at the East edge of downtown, with nice Chinese style gates straddling the road behind it.)